Baby burp seat



Jan. 1, 1963 G. D. GAsKlNs BABY BURP SEAT Filed Nov. 9, 1960 IENTOR: GLB-NN D. GAsKlNs BYJB, MAQMA-15,1

ATTORNEY5 Uni e Sttes atent 3,071,410 BABY BURP SEAT Glenn D. Gaskins, 329 Poplar St., Clinton, S.C. Filed Nov. 9, 1960, Ser. No. 68,280 3 Claims. (Cl. 297-195) This invention relates to an apparatus for supporting a baby in a position which is comfortable, allows freedom of movement, allows a more complete view of the surroundings, and aids in the relief of stomach gases.

For an infant child to have relief of gas from his stomach, it has heretofore been necessary for the parent to place the infant on the shoulder, patting him upon the back until he has relieved himself of the gas in his stomach. The gas must be relieved from the babys stomach to avoid the condition known -as colic, which consists of gas pressure in the intestines which is very painful to the infant. In some cases, the act of supporting the infant in this position until the gas is released from his stomach is quite time consuming and tiresome which places a burden both upon the parent who is holding the infant and upon the infant.

During the stage of an infants life from the time he is strong enough to raise his head by himself until he can sit up by himself, there has heretofore been only two positions in which the infant could be left alone. The infant could lie either on his back or on his stomach. ln either position, his view of his surroundings was limited and he was likely to become discontented after a short time. A change in the infants view in either of these two positions necessitated that he be moved from one place to another or that he be placed in the other of the two positions.

In the past, attempts have been made to solve the problem by providing a baby seat in which the infant is supported in a position which is between the reclining and sitting-up positions. These have increased the infants View of his surroundings and have made a change in his view easier to effect, but have not been entirely effective since it is necessary to move the entire seat to effect such a change. Also, in this type of seat, the infant can only be supported on his back and cannot be supported on his stomach. Further, this type of seat cannot support the infant in a position which aids in the relief of stomach gases.

It is an object of the present-invention to provide apparatus for supporting an infant child at the angle which he would normally be supported on the shoulder of a parent, which is comfortable and which also allows freedom of movement of the extremities, to aid in the relief of gas pressure from the stomach without the regurgitation of the food which has been taken internally.

A further object of this invention is to provide apparatus which will support a child at an angle which will aid in the relief of gas from the stomach, with his extremities unhampered for freedom of movement and in such a position so that he may observe things which are happening around him.

A still further object of this invention is to provide apparatus having means for supporting a baby at an angle which will aid in the relief of gas pressure from the stomach, and with his extremities unhampered wherein the baby supporting means may be rotated about a vertical axis allowing the babys view of his surroundings to be changed to keep him occupied.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects Will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE l illustrates a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention showing an infant child being supported thereby;

3,071,410 Patented Jan. 1, 1963 FIGURE 2 shows a perspective view of the saddle portion of the apparatus of the present invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary section taken substantially along lines 3 3 of FIGURE l.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG- URE 1 a tubular metal support 10 comprising a ring member 11 which is adapted to rest on the iioor or other support. The `ring member 11 has attached thereto a plurality of leg members 12, 13 and 14 which extend upwardly and are connected at their upper ends by a collar member 15. The collar member 15 has an opening therein which receives a rod-like support member 16 to the upper end of which a saddle member 2) is secured. The support member 16 has a plurality of spaced transverse openings 17 in the lower portion thereof for vertical -adjustment in a manner to be later described.

It will be noted that portion 16a of member 16 has been bent out of alignment with the longitudinal axis of member 16 at an angle of approximately l0 degrees. The angle of course is not critical but should be large enough so that the saddle member 20 may be supported thereon at a lesser angle to the horizontal than would be possible if the member 16 had no off-set portion whereby the amount of the infants weight which is supported by his crotch is reduced. The angle should also be large enough so that the infants extremities will not strike the leg members 12, 13, 14 when they are moved.

The saddle member 20 comprises a body portion 21 having a pair of side portions 22 which extend outwardly and upwardly and are adapted to receive the trunk of an infant child therebetween. A crotch portion 23 is formed integral with body member 21 and extends outwardly and upwardly therefrom and is adapted to receive the crotch of an infant child thereon to support the infant child and keep him from slipping olf of the body portion 21.

A strap member 24 is attached to the crotch portion 23 of body member Z1 and extends outwardly therefrom. A belt member 25 is attached to or formed integral with the opposite end of strap member 24. A lbuckle 26 is attached at one end and suitable openings 27 are provided at the other end of belt member 25 for attachment thereof around the waist of the infant child and the body portion 21 of saddle 20.

The saddle member 20 is attached to the support member 16 by a suitable collar 30 at an angle which will support the infant child at lthe angle which he would most normally be supported by the parent holding the infant upon his shoulder or approximately 40-60 degrees from the horizontal.

The mem-ber 16 is receivedy within the collar 1S for vertical adjustment therein. A collar member 3-1 is mounted on member d6 by a set screw 3-2 threadably engaged therewith and adapted to extend into the openings 1'7 in member 16. The collar 31 rests on the co1- lar y15 when the member 16 is received within the collar 15 and is freely rotatable thereon allowing the member 16 to rotate about its longitudinal axis. By suitable adjustment of the set screw 32 into the different openings 17, the position of collar 31 along member '16 may be changed and hence the vertical position of member 16 may be adjusted relative to the collar 15.

-In operation, the `apparatus 10 is placed on a suitable supporting surface such as a floor or the ground and the member 16 is adjusted through the use of collar 31 and set screw 32 to the desired vertical height. The infant child is then placed on the saddle member 20 with his stomach and chest resting on the body portion 21 and his crotch resting on portion 23. Side portions 22 extend around the sides of the babys trunk preventing him from rolling out of the saddle member 20.

The strap member 24 is extended rearwardly between 3 the infants legs and upwardly along its back to position the belt member 25 at the infants waist. The belt 25 is then Aextended around the infants waist and the body portion 21 of saddle member 20 and the ends are secured together by way of the buckle 26 and the openings 27.

It should be noted that the belt 25 is positioned above the outwardly and upwardly extending side portions 22 which may act as a stop to prevent the belt 25 from sliding downwardly along the saddle member 20. It should be further noted that the belt is positioned above the collar 30 which along with support member 16 may also act as a stop to prevent the belt 25 from sliding along the saddle member 20. Thus, the infant will always be securely retained in the saddle member 20 even though the belt 25 `may be loosely encircling his body.

It will be noted that the infant is securely supported in the saddle member lwith his extremities being unhampered providing him with full movement of the extremities for exercise. It will also be noted that the saddle member is supported at a distance from the longitudinal axis of member 16 and at an angle to the horizontal such that, as the baby moves his extremities, they will not strike the leg members 12, 13, 14. The saddle member 20 and support member 16 may be readily rotated on the support allowing the -in-fants view of his surroundings to be changed so that he may be kept occupied and hence contented for a longer period of time. Further, the weight of the infant will cause the body portion 21 of saddle 20 to exert pressure on the infants stomach which will, along with the angle at which the infant is supported, aid in the release of gas from his stomach.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, al though specific terms are employed, they are used in a` generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for supporting an infant at an angle to the horizontal which aids in the relief of gas from the stomach, comprising a base, a plurality of upstanding leg members mounted on said base, a vertically adjustable support member rotatably mounted on said leg members, the upper end of said support member being offset `from the longitudinal axis of the support member, a saddle member connected to and supported by said offset upper end of said support member at an angle to the horizontal, said saddle member having outwardly and `upwardly extending side portions adapted to receive the trunk of the infant therebetween and an outwardly and upwardly extending crotch portion at the lower' end thereof adapted to receive the crotch of the infant thereon, and means on said saddle member for securing the infant to the saddle member `with his extremities freely movable, the point of connection between the saddle member and the offset upper end of the support member being spaced from the longitudinal axis of the support member such a distance that the infants extremities will not strike the leg members when moved, said support member and saddle member supported thereon being adapted to be rotated on said leg members for changing the -infants view of his surroundings.

2. Apparatus for supporting an infant comprising saddle means including chest, stomach and crotch receiving portions which are adapted lto receive the corresponding portions of the infant thereon for supporting the infant with his weight spread over his chest, stomach and crotch, means on said saddle means for securing the infant to the saddle means with his extremities vfreely movable, and supporting means connected to said saddle means for supporting said saddle means at an acute angle to the horizontal with the chest receiving portion thereof disposed at a higher elevation than the crotch receiving portion -whereby an infant disposed on said saddle means is supported at an angle which aids in the relief of gas from the stomach.

3. Apparatus for supporting an infant comprising a base member, leg members carried by said base member and extending upwardly therefrom in converging relationship, collar means interconnecting the upper ends of said leg members and having an opening extending vertically therethrough, a supporting member positioned in the opening in said collar means and adjustably connected thereto for vertical adjustment relative thereto, a saddle member having chest, stomach, and crotch receiving yportions which are adapted to receive corresponding portions of an infant thereon, said saddle member being mounted on said supporting member at an acute angle to the horizontal with said chest receiving portion disposed at a higher elevation than said crotch receiving portion, and means connected to said saddle member for securing an infant to the saddle member with his extremities fully movable whereby the infant is supported with his weight spread over chest, stomach and crotch and at an angle which aids in the relief of gas from the stomach.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,281,629 Snow May 5, 1942 2,508,932 Turner May 23, 1950 2,509,040 Kibbe May 23, 1950 2,680,593 Mclntire June 8, 1954 2,854,064 Judd Sept. 30, 1958 

2. APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING AN INFANT COMPRISING SADDLE MEANS INCLUDING CHEST, STOMACH AND CROTCH RECEIVING PORTIONS WHICH ARE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE CORRESPONDING PORTIONS OF THE INFANT THEREON FOR SUPPORTING THE INFANT WITH HIS WEIGHT SPREAD OVER HIS CHEST, STOMACH AND CROTCH, MEANS ON SAID SADDLE MEANS FOR SECURING THE INFANT TO THE SADDLE MEANS WITH HIS EXTREMITIES FREELY MOVABLE, AND SUPPORTING MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SADDLE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID SADDLE MEANS AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO THE HORIZONTAL WITH THE CHEST RECEIVING PORTION THEREOF DISPOSED AT A HIGHER ELEVATION THAN THE CROTCH RECEIVING PORTION WHEREBY AN INFANT DISPOSED ON SAID SADDLE MEANS IS SUPPORTED AT AN ANGLE WHICH AIDS IN THE RELIEF OF GAS FROM THE STOMACH. 